


Cas Really Loves Christmas

by caswinchesterbaby



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Firefighter Dean, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Writer Castiel, a little bit of angst, but not really, it's basically fluff, not too much sam/jess but it's toward the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 07:44:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2843444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caswinchesterbaby/pseuds/caswinchesterbaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All the Christmas fluff <3</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cas Really Loves Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [castielscats](https://archiveofourown.org/users/castielscats/gifts).



> This is a Christmas gift for castielscats (Miki) because even though Pinky Promise? was technically her Christmas present, she beta'd it, so I wanted to write her another (this one much shorter) little fic as a surprise. This fic suffered tremendously without her though, and it would have been a million times better with her skills, but as it's a surprise, it's un-beta'd. So merry Christmas Miki, I hope this fills in what you had thought of before, and happy holidays everyone! :)

The first snow of the winter was falling steadily outside. It was still dark out, much too early in the morning to wake Dean. He wouldn’t be happy if he was tired at work, and it could be dangerous. The last thing Cas wanted was for his husband to get hurt while putting out fires. Frankly, it was one of his reoccurring nightmares, not that he would ever tell Dean that.

Even though the bed he shared with Dean was warm, Cas was far too awake to stay in it. He wanted to watch the snow, even if he got cold in the process. Separating himself from Dean proved to be more difficult than he’d anticipated, but with continuous effort he was able to get Dean to unconsciously cuddle with a pillow instead. He made his way to the other side of the room – in the dark – and sat at the window ledge. He’d always loved this spot, usually reading there with the light filtering in through the curtains.

Cas could see the snow drifting in front of a street lamp, illuminated beautifully. The reflections of light from the snowflakes made Castiel nostalgic, wishing he could share this moment with his husband, but Dean needed his sleep. It was falling steadily, already creating quite the pile on the ground. He’d have to make sure to shovel this morning before Dean left for work. He didn’t need to go anywhere today, and his job writing novels allowed him to work from home.

He was so transfixed by the snow that he didn’t hear Dean getting out of bed. Suddenly there were warm arms being wrapped around him from behind and a pair of soft lips being pressed to the side of his neck.

“Always the insomniac, aren’t you Cas?” Dean whispered. Castiel relaxed in Dean’s hold, turning his head so that he could kiss his husband properly.

“No, I woke up and saw that it was snowing.”

“So you decided to stay up?” Dean lifted a brow teasingly. “It’s three forty AM.”

“So?”

“ _So_ ,” Dean pulled gently, tugging Cas backwards and away from the window. “I think you should come back to bed so we can sleep some more.”

Castiel smiled despite himself. He really did want to keep watching the snow fall, but he couldn’t resist snuggling up with his husband either. They’d only been married for a few months and nothing could beat the high it gave him to always be around Dean, to get to sleep next to him every single night.

They crawled back into bed, pulling the blankets tight around them. Cas faced Dean, attempting for the umpteenth time to count all the freckles splattered across Dean’s face. He was determined to figure it out.

“Can we have a snowball fight when you get home from work?” Cas asked hesitantly. He wasn’t sure if Dean would still be awake.

“I’ll beat your ass, though.” Dean smirked, burrowing closer to Castiel despite the threat at victory.

“We’ll see,” Was all Cas said in reply, kissing Dean softly before letting himself fall back to sleep too.

 

***

 

“Baby, wake up.”

“Cas, I can see you making that grumpy face,” Dean sighed, and then there was suddenly a hand running through Castiel’s hair. “I gotta leave for work soon.”

Cas scrunched his brow and opened his eyes. He was always awake before Dean, how was he leaving already? He was already wearing his jacket and was putting on a hat and gloves. “Why didn’t you wake me sooner?”

“”Cause you looked like you needed the sleep,” Dean murmured as he wrapped a scarf around his neck. “And besides, it’s Christmas Eve, and I know for a freaking fact you won’t get any sleep tonight.”

Touché. Castiel could never sleep on Christmas Eve, he was always too excited. However, that didn’t mean he didn’t want to spend time with his husband before he left for the day.

“How much longer until you have to leave?”

“Five minutes.”

Cas frowned, getting out of bed and walking over to Dean. “You’re not upset that I woke you during the night, are you?”

“No, Cas,” Dean looked scandalized, reaching an arm out and placing it on Cas’s shoulder. “I already told you, I just wanted you to get some sleep.” Seemingly as a side note, Dean said, “And it gave me more time to strategize for how I’ll kick your ass during our snowball fight.”

“You know, babe,” Cas grinned, wrapping his arms around Dean’s neck and rubbing his lips against his husband’s, but not letting them kiss. “You keep saying that, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen.”

“Scratch that, I’m leaving for work right now.”

Cas knew Dean was only teasing, but it still made him feel momentarily guilty. That was, until Dean threw a sweater at him. He raised a brow in question, but Dean merely shrugged.

“It’s cold.”

Cas inspected the sweater, and sure enough it was one of Dean’s. A broad grin spread across his lips and he hurriedly put on the article.

“There,” Dean kissed his nose. “Now you can be with me until tonight when I show up and pelt you with snow.”

Castiel rolled his eyes but couldn’t help but wrap the warm sweater around him more. Dean saw the movement and grinned. Before he knew it, Castiel was having a second sweater put on him, and was that a third?

“Dean,” He grumbled, trying to pull his arms out of Dean’s manipulative hold. The third sweater was still in the process of either getting put on, or if Cas got his way, taken off, and was stuck on his head leaving him blinded. “Dean, what are you doing?”

“Keeping my husband warm, what else?” Dean made it sound like nothing was out of the ordinary.

Castiel huffed out a hot breath, still trying to gain power over his arms. “Well, stop it.”

“Can’t baby, gotta make sure you stay healthy.”

“Dean.”

“Cas.”

“ _Dean_.”

“Castiel.”

“Dean!” Castiel finally got his arms through the sleeves and used them to smack Dean in the side with the extra length of fabric dangling over his hands. Dean had always worn larger clothes than him.

Everything was fine until Dean decided to go for the one weakness Cas had. Tickling.

Dean’s hands were like lightning, coming out of nowhere and jabbing at his ribs. Immediately, Cas hunched over and tried to block his stomach, but Dean was already holding both of Castiel’s arms in his other hand.

“Dean!” Castiel choked out, no longer sure if he was laughing or was actually upset. “Dean, stop!”

“Gotta say the magic words, baby.”

“Dean!”

But Dean didn’t stop. Instead, he redoubled his efforts tenfold, causing Cas to scream out and fall to the floor, taking Dean with him. Still, his husband didn’t stop tickling him.

“Okay, okay!” Castiel was having trouble breathing, he was laughing too hard. “You win!”

“You have to say it, Cas.” Dean was having way too much fun with this.

“DEAN WINCHESTER IS MY BABY DADDY!”

Dean pulled his hands away, leaving Cas to roll over and curl into a fetal position. _Thank fucking god that was over._ He kept his arms clenched around his middle, pulling down all three of the ridiculous and quite frankly, marshmallow looking sweaters to cover his skin. Well, he was definitely awake now.

“You okay, Cas?” Dean asked softly, placing a gentle hand onto Cas’s shoulder. He shivered, a small hysterical bubble of laughter leaking out of him. “Castiel?”

Cas waited for the leftover laughter to subside before he responded. “I’m good.”

“Are you sure?”

Castiel turned around to face his husband at the tone of his words. He sounded much more worried than he should have been. Dean was looking down at him with a frown on his face, his head cocked to the side in concern.

“Yes.” Slowly, Cas sat up and wrapped Dean in a hug. “But you’re going to be late for work.”

Dean’s eyes widened before they flicked to the clock and yup, Dean just realized he would indeed be late if he didn’t leave right then.

“Shit, I’m sorry, babe.”

“It’s okay,” Cas stood up when Dean offered him his hand, heading to the front door with him. “Be safe at work.” He couldn’t always keep the apprehension from bleeding into his voice whenever Dean left to go fight fires. It was especially worse during the holiday seasons.

Dean looked down at him with sad eyes made worse by the fact that he was leaving until late that night, pulling a double shift to cover all the guys who had kids at home to spend Christmas Eve with.

“You know I will be,” He whispered before pressing a gentle kiss onto Castiel’s lips. He tried to savor it for as long as he could, because who knows, maybe this would have been his last kiss from Dean ever. He didn’t want to think like that.

“I love you, Dean.” Cas whispered, not allowing his voice to be any louder for fear of it cracking.

“I know, babe,” Dean placed one last kiss to his forehead before opening the door. “I love you, too.”

With that, Cas was left alone, apart from his husband, on Christmas Eve.

 

***

 

Baking Christmas cookies was apparently not Castiel’s forte. He figured it would be easy enough, but apparently he’d been wrong.

He wiped some dough off of his forehead, only managing to spread it more. This would have been so much easier with Dean.

“Dean,” Castiel mumbled under his breath. _When the hell had he become so reliant on Dean in his life?_ But he couldn’t deny the fact that he was incredibly lonely.

Just then, his phone started ringing. He sighed, not even bothering to wipe the dough off his hands before going to answer it. However, he paused and stopped breathing when he saw who was on the caller ID. Dean’s Work.

He took a shaky breath, preparing himself for the worst. The only time anyone got calls from the station was when something bad had happened. _Please don’t be hurt, please don’t be dead, please be okay…_

“Hello?” Castiel couldn’t keep the tremors out of his voice. His skin was simultaneously on fire and freezing at the same time, his body going numb to feeling.

“Hey baby.”

“Dean?” Castiel was about two seconds away from having a heart attack.

“Yup,” Dean sounded chipper, no, he sounded smug.

“Dean, what the hell?” Cas practically yelled into the phone, collapsing onto one of the counter stools and rubbing a dough covered hand down his face. Dean very obviously wasn’t dead.

“What? I just wanted to talk to you.”

“Not on the station phone!” Castiel’s voice was still shaking from the whirlwind of emotions. “I thought you fucking died!”

The line went dead for a few moments, no response from Dean at all. Cas let out a small sob, too worked up to be able to hold it back.

“I’m sorry,” Dean whispered. “I should have called from my cell.”

“You should have,” Cas hiccupped. Relief and grief warred within him, things happening way too fast for his brain to properly understand what was going on.

“I’m so sorry.”

Neither of them said anything for a few moments. Castiel tried to stop the small sobs that were racking his body, but it was no use. Dean occasionally murmured cooing noises and “I’m okay”, but other than that it was quiet until Cas got himself under control.

“I’m sorry, Dean, I don’t know what came over me.” Castiel closed his eyes.

“Cas, baby, don’t apologize to me for reacting how you did.” He almost missed the way Dean’s voice sounded strained. “I shouldn’t have called from this phone, I should have known better. It’s my fault.”

It took a few more sniffles, but eventually Castiel calmed enough to carry on a proper conversation.

“What were you calling for anyway?”

“Oh,” Dean said, and Cas could vividly see the way Dean was scuffing his shoes and looking down. “I was uh, gonna trash talk your snow ball throwing skills, but umm,” Dean faltered for a few moments and Cas just knew he was biting his lip now. “I don’t think it’s really the right time for that.”

Castiel paused for a moment with his mouth hanging open before he erupted in laughter, wheezing into his phone, and sunk to the floor. The part of him that was still mentally present could hear Dean asking if he was okay and what was going on, but he was too far gone for that.

“So you’re telling me,” He choked out. “That I just had a mini heart attack because I thought my husband _had fucking died_ , but you were actually calling so that you could tell me that you’re gonna kick my ass during a snowball fight?”

He didn’t wait to hear Dean’s response.

“Well guess what, babe – ”

“Cas – ”

“I am going to _destroy_ you tonight.” And with that, Castiel ended the call.

 

***

 

It was fucking freezing out. Castiel looked back through the darkness at his warm house, only slightly regretting his plans. As long as he stayed hidden behind his car then he could jump out and surprise Dean. That was, as long as Dean wasn’t anticipating the attack.

_C’mon, Dean. Hurry the hell up._

It was eleven thirteen pm, Dean got off work thirteen minutes ago, unless he was needed. Castiel really hoped he wasn’t needed. He was alleviated from the stress of waiting for his husband when said man’s Impala rumbled down the road.

He immediately ducked, praying that he’d stay hidden along with all sixty seven snowballs that he’d pre-made. The very same number as the year of Dean’s prized car. Oh how sweet irony was. Baby grumbled to a stop in the driveway behind Cas’s own much more modest vehicle and he sent out a silent prayer for proper timing.

The car door opened and closed, a pair of footsteps slowing coming forward. Castiel gripped the snowball tighter, practically preparing himself for war. He waited until he could see Dean’s shadow from the porch light illuminated right next to him to pop up and hurl the ball of freezing snow directly at his beloved husband’s chest.

Dean practically screamed, jumping at least two feet in the air and whipping his head around until it landed directly on a beaming Cas. Dean looked baffled for a moment before his eyes narrowed and a slow smirk played across his lips.

“You sly bastard,” Dean started, crouching down to get a handful of snow. Castiel threw the next snowball before Dean could even touch the snow. A chorus of praise coursed through his veins as the ball hit Dean squarely in the shoulder. “Oh, it’s on, Cas, it’s on.”

“Is that a threat?” Castiel smirked, already grabbing his third snowball.

“You bet it is.”

“Hmm,” Castiel briefly considered whether his comeback was too mean but decided to roll with it anyway. “Like the threat of you having died today?”

Dean faltered, eyes filling with sorrow, which in hindsight was his demise, because Cas took the opportunity and got him right in the jaw with a snowball.

“Castiel Novak, you dick!”

“Yeah? Well you married this dick!” Cas called back, ducking behind his car once more and gathering an arm full of ammunition. “And the name’s Castiel Winchester!”

At rapid speed, Cas chucked the snowballs over his car and at Dean, but Dean wasn’t faltering now and was expecting the barrage. What he hadn’t been expecting was to get hit himself with a snowball to the mouth. Instantly all he could taste was frozen – and probably dirty – liquid melting on his tongue.

“Dean!” In Castiel’s effort to rid his mouth of all the snow that Dean had gotten into it, he hadn’t realized that said man would run around the car and attack him at home base.

“Aww, look at that, baby, you even made me some snowballs,” Dean teased, grabbing from Castiel’s pre-made pile and using the ammunition against its creator. Castiel tried to fend him off, but Dean was already crowding him against the car and smooshing the snow onto him. Somehow Cas had managed to get Dean’s jacket opened and flattened a snowball against his chest, making his husband’s sweater get soggy and cold.

“Oh, you want to play dirty, don’t you?” Dean winked, pinning Castiel’s snowball throwing arm against the car and planting his body against his. Cas arched a brow in question, this wasn’t how normal snowball fights happened?

There was a glint in Dean’s eyes before the waistbands of his sweatpants and boxers were being tugged on from behind and there was a mound of snow being forced into contact with his bare skin. Cas yelped, because yeah, snowball on his ass was _not_ cool.

“Dean,” Castiel whined, using his free hand to grasp Dean’s wrist where it was shoving snow down his pants. “Stop that.”

“Did you say snow that?” Dean smirked. “I will.”

Cas squealed as Dean pushed another snowball into the base of his neck, his skin prickling from the freezing orb. “ _Dean._ ”

“Do you admit defeat, baby?”

“NEVER!” Castiel didn’t even worry about upsetting the neighbors, the thought didn’t have time to cross his mind before there was a snowball dropping down the back of his sweater.

“What about now, babe? I grew up with Samsquatch, I know how to win a snowball fight.”

“ _Dean_ ,” Cas squealed, doing his damn best to wiggle the snow out of his clothes with the little room he had between the car and Dean. “Alright, I surrender!”

Dean let go, taking the snowball he was holding over Castiel’s neck with him.

“I told you I’d win,” Dean beamed, sealing his lips over Cas’s. And yeah, maybe Castiel wasn’t so mad at him anymore. The kiss was warm, but there were still mounds of snow prickling against Cas’s skin under his clothes.

“Dean, ‘m cold.”

“Shit,” Dean chuckled against his lips. “Let’s get you inside and I’ll make a fire.”

Castiel smirked, reaching behind him and pulling a snowball from the back of his trench coat and directly smooshing it against the side of Dean’s face.

“Hey!” Dean shook the snow off of his face, smiling anyway. “I thought you called a cease fire?”

“And I thought firefighters didn’t make fires.”

Dean dead panned, staring at Cas in shock before a slow, devious smile spread across his face. “You’re such a little shit, but I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Cas kissed him once more, this time without any surprise snowballs. “But it’s really freaking cold out and I’d like my husband to strip me down and make me warm.”

Dean responded well to what Cas was implying. Before Cas could even walk away from the car, he was being picked up and carried fireman style back to the house. Not expecting it, Castiel let out a quick scream.

“Shh, baby, don’t want to wake the neighbors.”

Cas could tell that Dean was teasing by the way he shuffled him in his arms, making it seem as if he was going to drop him right before he’d catch him at the last minute.

Once they got into the house, Cas immediately started to get warmer. But that also meant the snow that was trapped under his clothes started to melt.

“Let’s get you out of these clothes,” Dean murmured, bringing him in front of the cold fireplace and setting him down. _I can walk on my own,_ Cas thought to himself, but didn’t say aloud. Secretly, he liked it when Dean carried him around like that. In a matter of minutes, Dean had a fire roaring in the fireplace and Cas was soaking wet from melted snow. He briefly considered just taking the clothes off himself, but it would be much more fun if Dean did it.

Dean got all his layers off until he was wearing only a t-shirt and his boxers. Every Christmas themed dirty thought that could be running through Cas’s head at the time was taking front row seats in his mind. So it was understandable why he frowned when Dean suddenly hesitated.

“Dean?”

Dean looked up from where he was kneeling between Castiel’s legs, his eyes full and cautious. “I really am sorry about earlier, you know that?”

Cas deflated, leaning back so that he was staring up at the ceiling. To be honest, he didn’t really want to talk about it. He knew that Dean hadn’t meant to scare him like that. Dean didn’t hear the horror stories that got passed around between all the firefighters’ wives and husbands (even though Dean was the only firefighter at his station that was married to someone of the same gender) at the summer barbeques. How everyone dreaded to get a call and see that it was from the station. How they knew that when they got that call, it meant their partner was either severely injured or dead.

“I know,” Cas whispered, angry at himself for the tears that were prickling at the back of his eyes. He closed them. “I forgive you.”

“I really wasn’t thinking.”

“I know you weren’t, but it wasn’t your fault,” When Castiel opened his eyes he saw Dean hovering over him with concern in his eyes. “You didn’t mean to scare me.”

“I didn’t.” Dean leaned down and kissed him languidly, his fingers playing at the waistband of Castiel’s boxers. Dean pulled away slightly, looking at Cas in permission. “Can I make it up to you?”

He nodded his head.

Dean made up for it.

 

***

 

Cas was resting his head against Dean’s chest on the couch under a thick snowman blanket. _The Year Without a Santa Claus_ was playing on TV, which Dean had grumbled about but once Cas made the puppy face had agreed to. Castiel thought that maybe Dean still felt guilty after the whole phone call fiasco, even though he’d certainly made up for it.

“You know that Sam and Jess are coming over tomorrow around noon, right?” Dean asked randomly.

Cas frowned slightly at the outburst but nodded. “Yes, if my understanding is correct then Sam and Jess’s airplane will be arriving around eleven thirty and we’ll be leaving at eleven to go pick them up.”

“Yeah, about that…” Dean drawled, not making eye contact with Cas when he turned around to face his husband. “I was hoping that I could go pick them up alone?”

“What?” Cas practically squeaked. Why didn’t Dean want him to go with him? Was Dean getting tired of him?

“Cas, Castiel, calm down,” Dean cooed, running a hand through Cas’s hair but he merely grabbed Dean’s wrist and pulled it away from his head. Dean frowned, but didn’t let it stop him from continuing. “I can see the thoughts running through your mind. It’s nothing personal, I just wanted to spend some alone time with my brother.”

“But Jess is going to be there, so why can’t I?” Cas couldn’t keep from pouting.

“Babe, I haven’t seen Sammy in months. I want to actually give him my attention, which I can’t if you’re there,” Castiel was about to get off of the couch and run to their room (he would have locked Dean out, too) but Dean tightened his hold around him and quickly added, “Which is by no means your fault. I just mean that I get distracted by you because I love you so much. I’d end up watching you and talking to you more than him.”

“Oh,” Castiel murmured, not sure how to respond to that.

“I’m sorry,” Dean kissed the side of his cheek. “I keep upsetting you today. You can come with me to pick them up.”

“No, I understand,” Cas twisted fully in Dean’s hold so that he was on top of him, straddling his hips. “It’s okay. It’ll be for less than an hour and then I get you for the rest of the holidays. You’re right, you barely ever get to see Sam now that he’s at Stanford.”

Dean’s eyes filled with hope. “So you’re saying it’s okay?”

Cas smiled, even though he knew it probably wouldn’t quite reach his eyes. “Yes.”

“I love you, you know.”

“I know.” Cas kissed him again before rolling off so that he could be the little spoon again. “Which is why we get to spend all night watching Christmas specials even though you hate them.”

Dean groaned from behind him but complied easily.

 

***

 

“Dean, wake up!” Castiel jumped off the couch, running into the kitchen and turning the coffee pot on. He knew that Dean would never get up if there wasn’t coffee. “It’s Christmas!”

“Nghgh,” Dean grumbled, burrowing deeper into the couch. They’d fallen asleep watching Christmas specials sometime around three in the morning. It was six am now.

“C’mon, you big oaf,” Castiel teased, jumping back onto the couch and sitting on his husband. He’d always done this to Gabriel when they were kids, but now that he lived with Dean that meant his husband had to endure his Christmas spirit. They’d gotten married three years ago but somehow Dean still didn’t get as excited as Cas did.

“Five more minutes,” Dean bargained, hiding his head into the arm of the couch.

“But Dean,” Castiel whined. Dean would wake up and celebrate with him whether he wanted to or not. “I really want you to open your present.” He was using it as bait to get Dean to wake up, and it worked.

Dean sat up, throwing the heavy blanket off of himself and looking around with wide eyes until realization dawned on him and he squinted his eyes at Cas.

“We weren’t getting each other presents this year,” Dean’s voice was full of playful betrayal. “We’re going on a trip to Vancouver to go moose gazing.”

“But aren’t you awake now?” Cas asked with a huge smile on his face. Dean faltered before rolling his eyes and stretching. “I made coffee?” Cas tried. Dean raised a brow but leaned in and kissed him anyway.

“Just give me a few minutes and I’ll be completely full of Christmas spirit,” He whispered against his lips. Cas nodded, giving Dean a light slap on the ass when he deemed traveling out of the bed at a snail’s pace as acceptable.

Twenty minutes later they were sitting in front of a newly stoked fire and sipping hot chocolate that was spiked with coffee. It was still snowing outside.

Cas glanced over to Dean, not failing to notice how his husband kept closing his eyes for extended periods of time before shaking his head and letting his lids droop once more. He sighed, taking Dean’s mug and putting it on the coffee table. Dean quirked an eyebrow but didn’t complain.

Giving Dean a gift for Christmas would have been ideal, but he didn’t want to break their rule. If it was up to him, he’d give Dean all the gifts he’d missed out on as a child. Dean’s mom had died when he was four and after that, well, his dad was never really the same. Dean had told him the first year that they’d been married how he’d shoplifted as a kid to get Sam something for Christmas and would usually go without. Cas wanted to give him everything.

“Let’s go make a snowman.”

Dean’s head shot up from where it had been drifting downward. “What?”

“Let’s go make a snowman,” Castiel repeated, enunciating every word.

“I heard you, just…” Dean looked at him oddly. What was so wrong about wanting to build a snowman? It wasn’t as if they had much else to do.

“C’mon, it’ll be fun,” Castiel promised, throwing in a wink. Dean looked skeptical, but complied.

They threw on jackets, gloves, hats, and scarves, as well as an extra pair of socks each. Once they were outside, Cas quickly realized that if Dean wasn’t awake before, he definitely would be now. It was even colder than it had been the night before.

“You sure, babe?” Dean wrapped an arm around him, supplying just the littlest bit of warmth. “It’s fucking cold, we should go back inside.”

“No,” Castiel stood his ground. Why he was so insistent about making a snowman, he didn’t know.

“Cas,” Dean was _so_ whining. Castiel fixed him with a look and the high pitched noise stopped. He could have sworn he heard a mumbled “you’re lucky I love you so goddamn much.”

“We have to make the bottom first,” Castiel instructed.

“So we have to make you?” Dean teased, winking at him lavishly. Cas immediately blushed, instinctively looking around to make sure no one had heard what his husband just said.

“Dean!” Cas squeaked between clenched teeth once he realized that no one was around. “That was one time. If anything, it’s you that’s the bottom.”

Dean raised a brow, quirking his hat where it rested on his head. “Well, Castiel Novak,” Upon the harsh glare Cas sent, Dean corrected to, “Castiel Winchester, I would have you know that I had never bottomed until I met you.”

“Doesn’t matter, you’re still the bottom in this relationship.”

“And you’re still the child in this relationship,” Dean teased. Cas knew he didn’t mean it. But, child…

Cas raised his eyes slowly and Dean must have seen his thoughts clearly because his eyes widened and he started backing away carefully.

“Cas, you know that I can’t,” Dean whispered, his eyes filling with emotion. They’d had this discussion millions of times, almost always with it ending in fights. Cas wanted a baby, he wanted a full family so bad it hurt; but Dean didn’t. It wasn’t so much that Dean didn’t want it, just that he didn’t think he would be fit for a family. No matter how much Cas had tried to convince him, Dean wouldn’t budge.

He tried to stay away from the topic these days, all it did was make Dean feel guilty and it always ended with one or both of them crying. Damnit, why did he have to get hopeful when he heard Dean say the word child? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

“Baby, I’m sorry,” Dean tried to approach him but Cas didn’t want that right now. He wasn’t angry at Dean, he understood what his husband was going through, but that didn’t mean it didn’t still hurt. He took another step backwards before shaking out of it. Dean _was_ becoming more approachable on the subject these days, but it was still a sore topic. He needed to wait a few more months before mentioning it again.

“Let’s just,” Castiel cleared his throat, mentally clearing his mind of all emotions that weren’t happy. “Let’s just make this motherfucking snowman.”

Dean nodded, noticing the barrier Castiel was putting up and leaned down to gather a chunk of snow. By the time they’d gotten to the second sphere of the snowman’s body, Cas was starting to feel better.

“I’m sorry,” He mumbled, nuzzling his head into the crook of Dean’s neck. “I didn’t mean to do that, especially not today.”

“Don’t apologize,” Dean whispered. And then that was the end of that. Neither of them would mention it again for a while.

After what could be considered as way too long to make a snowman, it was finally done. If Cas was being honest with himself, it was a pretty sucky snowman. The bottom was basically a slab and the two other spheres were more like lumpy blocks.

With a large beam on his face, he turned to his husband. “Dean, it looks just like you.”

Amusement shined in Dean’s eyes before Castiel was suddenly being tackled to the ground by what was the equivalent of an overgrown puppy.

“Oh yeah, Angel?” Dean asked, leaning down and kissing Cas right on the mouth. “So are you only with me for the free calendars?”

“Please,” Castiel rolled his eyes, stretching his arms and legs out in the snow and arcing them widely. “The only good picture in that ‘hot firefighters’ calendar is of Bobby.”

Dean twisted his face before barking out a laugh, kissing Cas once more. “I’m gonna tell him you said that.”

“Could you also give him my number?”

“I might as well send some of your nudes while I’m at it, right?”

“Of course.”

Dean laughed, rolling off of Castiel and to his left, right in the way of the snow angel Cas was attempting to make.

“Hey!” Cas flicked some snow at Dean. “You’re ruining my snow angel.”

“Oh,” Dean quickly got up, making an effort not to step into the arcs Cas had already made. Well, he tried at least. “I bet it’s gonna be beautiful.”

“I’m making it, aren’t I?” Castiel asked cheekily. Dean merely quirked the side of his lip up before shaking his head with a grin on his face. Cas arced his limbs a few more times before deeming the impressions deep enough. He held out a hand and Dean took it, pulling him up effortlessly so as to not ruin the snow angel. Cas turned around and looked at it.

Well, it was certainly better than their snowman.

Dean looked at it for a long time before turning to Cas and grabbing the sides of his face in his hands. He was pulled forward and _oh_ , Dean was kissing him. Castiel kissed him back chastely before pulling away because yeah, it was fucking freezing out and he wanted to go back inside.

Dean must have read his mind because a hint of a challenge passed through his eyes before they were suddenly racing each other back to the house. Dean may have been a firefighter, but Cas went running every single day, rain or shine. Cas beat his husband by only a few centimeters, but he still got through the doorway first. Too bad Dean wasn’t paying attention and hadn’t realized that he stopped running because they knocked together and fell to the floor in a mad tangle of limbs and winter clothes.

“Ugh, Dean,” Cas groaned into the carpet. Dean was freaking heavy already, but covered in at least ten pounds of winter garments, he was substantially more weight. He rolled off of him, laughing, and it must have been contagious because Cas found himself laughing along.

“You’re such a punk.”

“Look who’s talking,” Dean quipped back, hand suddenly resting over Castiel’s back where he had two very large inked angel wings. Cas rolled his eyes.

“You and I both know that those tattoos are not ‘punk’, but are spiritual,” He chastised with a raised brow.

“Could have fooled me,” Dean smiled.

“Hmm,” Castiel made a show of thinking while he slowly got up, physically crawling down the hall. He could feel Dean’s eyes on him. “I guess there is _something_ I want to do that is quite punk.”

“And what would that be?” He heard Dean ask from right behind him. He glanced back and yup, Dean’s eyes were hungrily pinned on him as he followed him down the hallway.

Cas winked, rolling his hips once for show. Dean’s sharp intake of breath was enough for him.

“Let’s fuck under the Christmas tree.”

 

***

 

Castiel sighed as he threw the Christmas ham into the oven and set the timer. Dean had left a few minutes ago to meet Sam and Jess at the airport, leaving Cas all alone on Christmas. He knew that they’d all be back soon enough, but the house still felt too quiet. It was absolutely maddening.

He hissed at the burn in his lower back when he stretched back up. He’d bottomed for Dean for only the second time in their entire relationship. Dean had been extremely careful and had taken care to prep him carefully, but his body wasn’t familiar with the feel of the receiving instead of the giving. At least now he had a constant reminder of Dean while he prepared dinner alone. And wow if that wasn’t a depressing thought.

Cas sighed again, looking over to their golden retriever Charlie (named after Dean’s best friend who incidentally got them together in the first place) and matched the frown that graced his face. See, even their dog was lonely now.

“Hey, Charlie,” Cas crouched down and rubbed her neck. At least he wasn’t completely alone. “You miss Dean?” When Charlie didn’t make any noises he took it as a yes. “Yeah, me too.”

He talked to Gabriel on the phone for a half hour after that. Gabe didn’t notice – or at least didn’t mention – Cas’s dwindling holiday spirit until the end of the conversation.

“Spill the beans, little bro.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?” Castiel asked, and he was being honest. It wasn’t unusual for Gabe to jump to conclusions about things.

“Why are you sitting around talking to me on the phone when you could be spending it with the hubby? And you sound like a wounded animal, it’s kinda bothering me. Making my sugar taste sour, you know?”

“Dean isn’t home,” Cas deadpanned.

There was silence on the other line for a little while before a soft voice asked, “Is he at work?”

“No.” Cas did not croak. He didn’t.

“Then what the hell is he doing?” Gabe sounded angrier than Cas had anticipated.

“Picking up Sam and Jess at the airport. He wanted to see Sam without me for a little bit.”

“That’s bullshit!” Gabe yelled, momentarily scaring Cas.

“Gabe, please calm down,” Cas pleaded. He didn’t want his brother to be mad at his husband. It wasn’t a big deal, he was just over reacting. He never should have said anything to Gabe.

“I’ll see you on New Year’s Eve, Cassie,” Gabe still sounded upset and that was worrying. “Merry Christmas.”

Little did Cas know that right after Gabe hang up he texted Dean: _DUDE HURRY THE HELL UP, YOU’RE MAKING MY LITTLE BRO SAD ON XMAS, GET THE FUCKING PRESENTS QUICKER._

Cas sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day and collapsed onto the couch. Charlie – the dog – jumped up next to him and curled up between him and the back of the sofa. Suddenly napping felt like a great idea.

 

***

 

“Cas, wake the hell up,” A voice said, rousing him if only by a little bit. “I did not travel to Kansas on Christmas Day for you to be asleep.”

Cas opened an eye and yup, that was Sam Winchester looking down at him with that big goofy grin on his face.

“Sam,” Cas beamed, sitting up to give him a hug. He hadn’t seen him since he graduated from college, which was also when Sam had proposed to Jess. Speaking of Jess… “Where’s your lovely fiancé?”

“Jess is in the kitchen with Dean,” Sam pulled back from the hug and clapped him on the back. “I think they’re talking over wedding plans.”

Cas smiled, he’d always liked planning weddings. His and Dean’s was perfect, or at least for them it was. The sprinklers might have gone off in the middle of the ceremony, but Castiel didn’t care. He had been there to legalize his marriage with Dean, to confess his love to the world. What was a little unexpected water?

“It’s good to see you after so long.”

“Same to you, man,” Sam responded, leading them into the kitchen. True to Sam’s word, Dean and Jess were both sitting at the counter. But what Sam had failed to mention was how very _pregnant_ Jess was.

“Jess!” Castiel’s eyes bulged because holy shit, he was not expecting that. Jess was absolutely glowing, stunning with the baby bump.

“Cas,” Jess jumped off the stool and wrapped him in a crushing embrace. “Oh my god, I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you, too,” Castiel squeezed back before holding her away at arm’s length to inspect her bump. “How far along are you?”

“Five months,” Jess beamed, shimmying a little. Cas’s eyes shifted to Dean. Dean, who looked happier than he’d seen him in a while. That wasn’t saying Dean wasn’t happy already, he just looked more whole in that moment.

“Dean, did you know about this?”

“Nope.” Dean grinned back. “The moose didn’t think to tell me.”

“Hey!” Sam squawked at the same time that Jess started laughing.

“We wanted to wait until we saw you in person to tell you.”

“That’s adorable,” Cas mumbled, a smile fixed permanently on his lips.

They settled into amiable chatter after that, discussing both the upcoming wedding in a few months and the baby that was due only two months before then. Cas had noticed that Dean kept inching closer to him, and he inched closer, too.

However, it wasn’t until he caught Sam and Jess sending excited – and quite frankly _suspicious_ – looks to each other for the seventh time that he realized something was going on that he wasn’t in on.

He was about to ask about it when Dean cleared his throat and produced a jar out of nowhere. He must have been holding it behind his back.

“Cas, I know we said no presents this year, but…”

Cas ogled the jar with wide eyes. Dean had gotten him a gift? Even after they’d agreed not to get presents this year?

“Here,” Dean shoved the jar towards him and Cas took it hesitantly, fingers curling around Dean’s where their hands met.

“Dean,” Castiel felt tears forming at the backs of his eyes. He wasn’t sure what it was that Dean got him, but it look like he made it. “You didn’t have to get me anything.”

“I wanted to,” Dean interjected, smiling brightly at Castiel. “Please, open it.”

“Okay.” Castiel walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, taking a seat on the sofa and slowly uncapping the lid of the blue jar. Inside, there were hundreds of small folded up pieces of paper. Cas tilted his head to the side and pulled one out. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dean, Sam, and Jess walk into the living room and sit around him.

_Cas, I love you._ The first one read. He snorted, but leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to Dean’s lips.

“I love you, too, Dean.”

“Read the rest of them,” Dean insisted. So Castiel did.

_You’re eyes are beautiful._

_You’re beautiful._

_You’re the smartest man I’ve ever met._

_I’d be lost without you._

_Kittens bow down to your adorableness._

_Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are disgusting but you make them look delicious._

_I’d only ever bottom for you. You’re the only one I trust._

_You’re my little Angel._

_You’re novels are fucking amazing._

_I swear to god I’d do anything for you. Even suck you off ;)_

Cas blushed, making sure that neither Sam or Jess could read that piece of paper. He’d take Dean up on the offer later.

_I’d fight a fangirl over you. And win._

_When I first met you I thought I had died and gone to Heaven._

There were dozens more but Castiel’s eyes were tearing up, so they all started to blur. He could feel Dean twitching where he was seated beside Cas as he went to take out the final piece of folded paper. It didn’t budge. It was taped onto the bottom. What the hell?

Cas picked the tape but once he freed the piece of paper he found that it was sealed shut by yet another piece of tape. Seriously, what the hell?

Dean cleared his throat suddenly. Castiel looked up, tears trembling at his eyelids but his face was dry. The scrunch to his brow softened as Dean fidgeted for another moment before smiling awkwardly and kneeling on one knee. Cas was frozen as he watched Dean reach into his pocket and pull out two thin light brown leather straps, just long enough to stretch around their wrists. He could see that engraved in each of them were their names. _Castiel & Dean Winchester._

“Castiel,” Dean’s voice cracked in the middle of his name. “We’ve been married for three years now, and these three years have been the happiest of my life.”

Tears were streaming steadily down Cas’s face, his bottom lip trembling from the effort to keep in a sob. Dean’s own eyes were slowly clouding.

“I’m sorry that I left you alone today, but it was because I had to stop by Charlie’s to pick up these bracelets.” Dean’s voice was thick, filled with just as much emotion as when they’d gotten married. “You see, I asked her to make us something that would last forever, and well, that’s what she did. I wanted something that I could use to propose to you, since you’re the one who asked me to marry you the first time.”

Cas was biting his lip so hard he was afraid he’d draw blood. He forgot that Sam and Jess were even in the room.

“So, Castiel Winchester, would you do me the honor of renewing our vows with me?”

The sob that he’d been trying to hold back so hard finally burst through and he found himself suddenly kneeling on the floor, clinging to Dean as if his life depended on it.

“Yes, yesyesyesyesyes,” Castiel chanted into Dean’s lips, kissing his husband with each word. “God, Dean, I love you so much.”

“I love you too, so goddamn much, Cas, so much.”

Jess took a picture of the moment and by the next Christmas at the Dean and Castiel Winchester house, it’s framed between pictures of their adopted three months old twin girls. Castiel really loved Christmas, but most of all, he loved his family.

**Author's Note:**

> caswinchesterbaby on tumblr >> castielskeytotheimpala
> 
> castielscats on tumblr >> worthy-rising-demon


End file.
